As the Community fans who also love Law & Order excitedly await tonight's very special L&O-inspired episode, "Basic Lupine Urology," there's a very real debate occurring online. No, it's not Britta-Jeff 'shippers vs. Annie-Jeff 'shippers or Britta-Troy 'shippers vs. Troy-Abed fanfic'ers or Dan Harmon vs. Chevy Chase. It's much more serious: It's about what onomatopoeia describes the noise between L&O scenes. more ›

Community, NBC's beloved—if struggling—cult Thursday night comedy, has spoofed countless films and television shows, including Pulp Fiction, Dr. Who, Rankin-Bass Christmas programs, and Glee, but now it's moved onto the best possible thing to pay tribute to: The Law & Order franchises. Watch the opening of this Thursday's show—there's even the detectives and DA's walk at the end! more ›

We love us some adorable animal stories—so what better way to bid farewell to 2011 than with one such happy story! Recurring Law & Order actress Lenore Harris was reunited with her 17-year-old Pomeranian yesterday, a few days after the dog was stolen from her in a CVS on the Upper West Side. “It’s a great holiday New York story,” said Lenore’s sister, Rosalind Harris, an actress who played Tzeitel in the movie Fiddler on the Roof. more ›

Approximately 60 Occupy Wall Street protesters massed at Foley Square in Lower Manhattan just before midnight last night, where Law & Order: SVU had built a TV set that mimicked the encampment in Zuccotti Park before its eviction last month. Tarps, tents, handpainted signs bearing slogans of "We Are The 99%" and "Goldman $ucks," as well as a mock kitchen and People's Library made the fake camp very convincing. Protesters dashed through the park, defacing signs, complimenting the choice of tents and helping themselves to the food in the "kitchen." In short: it was a bizarre scene, and within the hour at least 50 NYPD officers showed up to rescind the show's permit, force the protesters from the park and order the production crew to dismantle the set. Here's video: more ›

Charles Nagel, Law & Order: Criminal Intent's Kathryn Erbe's #1 superfan/creepy stalker, was given five years probation after claiming he was raped in jail. more ›

Though it announced the details yesterday, NBC kicked off the big four network's annual upfronts today with some good news for those who like their crime-fighting television set in New York (to go along with the good news for those who care about democracy). Not only has the peacock killed the hated Law & Order: Los Angeles, which killed our beloved original flavor Law & Order, but they've also picked up a Maria Bello-led, NYC-set, remake of the British crime classic, Prime Suspect. Oh, and The Ghost Whisperer might join the cast of Law & Order: SVU. more ›

Guess that tune: "Ba-bum…ba-ba-ba-ba-bum." Are visions of Jerry Orbach and S. Epatha Merkerson drifting through your head? The iconic "Law & Order" opening theme song, instantly recognizable to fans pretty much everywhere, helped cops find a robbery suspect in New Jersey yesterday. more ›

The Times has a piece on Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and it is a sad one: it seems that the show's shortened eight-episode 10th Season may very well be its last. USA has billed it as the "final season," and most of the cast and crew seemed resigned to their fate, though some, such as Kathryn Erbe (who plays Det. Alexandra Eames), are in denial. “To have a show in New York go down is not good for New York...The fact that we managed to do these eight more episodes gives a lot of people eight more episodes of income,” said Vince D'Onofrio, aka Det. Robert Goran. more ›

There's been no lack of mocking headlines and critical jest at Spider-Man: Die Hard With A Vengeance Turn Off The Dark, by far the most expensive tone-deaf musical ever. But no headline has truly made it until it is ripped out, reassembled, and immortalized into a Law & Order plotline. And it seems that Julie Taymor's great folly will be getting its moment in the sun very soon, when Law & Order: Criminal Intent takes on the musical in an upcoming episode. more ›

Perhaps there is something in the sweet, bottled, artesian aquifer-filtered water over at Morgan Stanley: a few months ago we found out that one of their traders was fired for paying a dwarf to dress up in a Men in Black suit for a stunt (it's a fact that people with too much money want to live in a movie). Now we learn that a former Morgan Stanley executive who bit the ear off of one of his subordinates is still gainfully employed at Deutsche Bank. more ›

Chung chung: BBC America will start airing the British version of Law & Order next month. The press release says, "All scripts have been taken from the U.S. version to retain the grittiness of the original series, but adapted to fit with the British legal system, providing a uniquely British twist." So, instead of going for hot dogs and coffee...the detectives will go for fish and chips and tea? more ›

The Staten Island Advance reports that an assistant district attorney in the Staten Island DA's office was charged with a DWI yesterday. Craig Trainor was allegedly "speeding and changing lanes without using a signal before he was pulled over on the corner of West 44th Street and 12th Avenue at around 3:15 a.m."; he "was also charged with refusing to take a Breathalyzer test" twice. Trainor, who often prosecutes DWI offenses, was suspended without pay and a spokesman for his boss, DA Daniel Donovan, said, "Obviously, these are very serious allegations. Due to the prosecution being conducted by the Manhattan D.A., we cannot comment further at this time." Last weekend, an ADA for the Bronx DA's office was arrested for a DWI-related crash in the Bronx. more ›

Huh, the Law & Order spin-off, Law & Order: Los Angeles, got unexpectedly classy by announcing that Alfred Molina, the British actor who has been in Frida and Spider-Man 2 and nominated for three Tonys (he just received one for Red on Broadway), will be a DA on he show. Via EW's Michael Ausiello, producer Dick Wolf said, “I am thrilled that Fred is LOLA‘s Deputy D. He joins a remarkable list of some of America’s greatest character actors like Sam Waterston, Vincent D’Onofrio, Jeff Goldblum, Steven Hill, Dianne Wiest, and Michael Moriarty as stars of Law & Order-branded series." more ›

We've known that artist Brandon Bird is a fan of Law & Order—we admired his painting of Lennie Briscoe with a Hot Dog back in 2003, loved his Law & Order Coloring Book, was impressed by a commissioned painting of Briscoe and ADA Jack McCoy and said "Choo-choose me" with these special SVU Valentines. However, his latest effort is truly something else: He's put together a show of artists' paintings based the "one-line DirecTV summary of a Law & Order, SVU, or Criminal Intent episode." more ›

Law & Order's series finale was last month, but the sets at Chelsea Piers are still standing and here are some photographs of the interior sets—the Manhattan DA's office, the squad room of the 2-7, the court room—in nostalgic black and white. more ›

With the cancellation of Law & Order last month, there was news that NBC was moving forward on a City of Angels version of the show. EW's Michael Ausiello has details of the casting, which includes a potential interracial detective duo (the veteran is a "handsome, rugged ex-Marine in his early 40s"), an Asian lieutenant, a Hispanic ADA and, yes, a "brainy and drop dead gorgeous assistant prosecutor." If Law & Order were being cast today, we're not sure George Dzunda would have gotten a break. more ›

Beginning June 9th, the 2010 season of The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park will bring The Winter's Tale and The Merchant of Venice to the outdoor stage. The cast, as usual, is talent-studded, with the likes of Al Pacino, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, and beloved Broadway and Law & Order actor Jesse L. Martin sharing the stage. more ›

According to a new, Google-sponsored study, Google is very valuable to New York! The company brought the state $6.3 billion from paid search-term advertising last year, making New York Google's 2nd highest earning state. The internet giant brought $50 million to “I Love New York” tourism alone once they adopted AdWords, with 17% of their traffic coming from the Google program. However, since Google is reporting the numbers, Google may be hyping themselves up. They're no Law & Order (RIP). more ›

Is Dick Wolf just playing devoted Law & Order fans or does he really have a plan to bring the just-canceled NBC drama back? According to the Media Decoder, the producer that "he was not giving up but did not specify where he is hoping to place the series." more ›

NBC's decision to cancel Law & Order doesn't just mean that we'll no longer get to guess which headlines were ripped (Hookergate! The Taconic Wrong Way Crash! Hipster Grifter!) on the latest episode, it also means that $79 million will not go towards NYC businesses, actors, and interests. That's the amount that NYC Film, Theater and Broadcasting Commissioner Katharine Oliver estimates the productions spends annually—and she also told the NY Times that the show employs about 4,000 people, each year, including one-day parts. Oliver said Law & Order producer-mastermind Dick Wolf "really proved that New York City is an affordable place to shoot." more ›

In the world of television watching, the people fall into two separate yet unequally passionate groups: those who watch Law & Order and the NBC executives who canned the show. It's a sad day, because NBC confirmed that it had canceled the long-running crime procedural. NBC TV chairman Jeff Gaspin said, "The full measure of the collective contributions made by Dick Wolf and his ‘Law & Order’ franchise over the last two decades to the success of NBC and Universal Media Studios cannot be overstated. The legacy of his original ‘Law & Order’ series will continue to make an impact like no other series before." more ›

E! and Deadline Hollywood say that NBC has canceled the longest running drama on television, Law & Order, which has been on the air since 1990. E! reports, "The cast and crew of the mothership procedural were informed of the show's fate earlier today," while Deadline Hollywood weighs in, "This is very surprising as NBC brass had indicated lately that they would bring L&O for a record-breaking 21st season. But with strong development, especially on the drama side, and soft ratings for L&O, NBC apparently opted not to keep the aging series, which spawned several successful spinoffs. The latest, Law & Order: Los Angeles, will launch next season." (LOLA is apparently not a joke.) more ›

Director Brooks Branch tells City Room how hard it was to find the perfect bathroom for his upcoming movie, Multiple Sarcasms. The film, set in 1979, features a lead character who does his best writing in the bathroom, and Branch said, "Every single location I went on, everyone said, ‘Law & Order’ shot here. I started to feel that every location in New York is a ‘Law & Order’ hand-me-down. I felt we’re never going to find a fresh bathroom." City Room explains Branch finally solved it by having "one built, deep inside a warehouse in Brooklyn." He did manage to find a good fountain at the Japan Society, though. more ›

S. Epatha Merkerson, who portrays the beloved Lieutenant Anita Van Buren on Law & Order, told Entertainment Weekly that she will be leaving the show after this season, "It’s a graceful way to go. It’s the end of my contract this year, and the storyline has been so perfect. I’ve given it my best for 16 years. It’s time to move on. I’m doing other things and this will be a great way to leave what has been an extraordinary gig." more ›

Okay, so Hudson University doesn't really exist—except in the world of Law & Order, L&O: Special Victims Unit and L&O: Criminal Intent. Need a sociopathic nemesis for Detective Goren? Make her a temporary professor at Hudson. Need someone to be murdered in a parking garage? Why not at Hudson! City Room asked L&O producer Rene Balcer about the school and he explained, "It is the one place you never want to go to school or teach at. Very high crime rate." Totally—as Twitterer Mickbw wrote, "OMG Hudson University from Law & Order SUV must be the worst place ever to live or attend school." more ›

A singer/songwriter/stalker who for three years obsessed over Law & Order: Criminal Intent star Kathryn Erbe, sending letters to her Brooklyn home and showing up on set, has finally been arrested, reports the Post. Charles Nagel, who uses the stage name Chaz Rose to sing "romantic smooth" songs influenced by Michael Jackson and Johnny Mathis, wrote on his MySpace page—which is mostly devoted Criminal Intent and Erbe—that "melody feeds the soul." more ›